The moss that creeps into your mind
by Acereack
Summary: A planet plagued by death, a light in the darkness. But can you resist the lure of the dark.


The moss that creeps into your mind.

I always cramped up when I came down here. There was no avoiding it, the small space meant that I had to curl up more. I stayed down here for hours. I didn't know how long I stayed there sometimes, there was no clock or way to tell time down here. I would have to return to the surface to do that.

I worked my way out of the little nook and clambered over the numerous pipes and wires that lead me to the surface. I followed the long passages as far as you could, gradually leading me upwards. It was pitch black down here, no way to tell where you were going, except years and years of going the same path to where you felt safe.

Moss and weeds covered the walls and floor, my bare feet sank into the moss with every footstep, it was so thick it felt like I was going through mud, having to pick my feet up high with every step. As far as I knew, I was the only person who had been down here in years. The rest of her crew had abandoned her on impact.

It was about 10 minutes before I reached the surface. I had emerged out of the side, as I always did. I clambered down my ladder to the floor below, and walked over the moss a little bit before turning back and looking at the full structure. I had seen it hundreds of times, but its intricate structure and hydraulics had always interested me. I ran my hand along one of the sides, scraping off a little bit of the moss to reveal its name. The moss always regrew within the week, but I liked being able to see the shiny letters that gave the ship its full name. "Krieger" I think it mean warrior in another language or something.

It was an old ship, used for nothing important, probably a freighter. I had been trying to get it working for years. It was in the best shape out of the ones I had found, and I spent my days ferrying parts back and forth from the other ones.

I had assembled a little place I could stay next to the ship, if you folded down a panel on the outside and climbed inside, you found a little room where I kept all my things.

Speaking of which, I looked at the clock, I only had a few hours of darkness left, I better get moving. I got dressed, putting on my jacket. It was ripped in several places and hung off my body loosely. My shirt went underneath, plain black it contrasted with the brown of the jacket nicely. I put on my trousers, black as well. My brown leather boots came up quite high, and I laced them up on a mossy rock next to me.

I pulled out my holster from the box on the edge of the room and put it on my waist. Then I found my gun. It was a simple Mauser C96, I placed a few bullets in it and holstered it. I tied my long hair up in a bun and put on my scarf and slipped my steel mask over my mouth, I would need it to help me breath.

I walked out again and over a few metres to my car, I opened the door and hopped in. It barely worked, and mostly ran on fumes. I had done mechanical work before, and I had just managed to get it working. It was an old Ford Galaxie, and was rusting beyond repair, and being claimed by moss in most parts. I managed to keep the engine clean of it by spraying it with pesticide. But my seat as usual had become covered in it. I managed to brush most of it off. But I didn't mind it there, it was the engine I was worried about. The moss always found ways around things.

Every time I started the car up, my heart went into my throat, there was a chance that it wouldn't start, and then I'd need to devote the night to repairs, and wouldn't be able to go out. But when I turned the key this time it rumbled into life. I put my googles over my eyes, they slotted into the mask and covered the only remaining bit of skin showing.

I worked my way around the trees that led me up to the road. It was mostly oak trees, their large trunks meant that the car struggled to find a way up the hill, but I had found a route over the years. I finally burst out of the forest and onto the road, and accelerated forwards to where I would find the parts I needed.

It was tarmac, and except for the occasional pothole, it was in remarkably good shape. The V8 of the ford rumbled along. I didn't mind about making this much noise during the night-time, it was the days that I had to worry about. They would have patrols out during the day, and that's why I would always hide deep in the ship, where they couldn't catch me with thermal.

The road wound its way through the forest, leaving a patch of sky above me at all times, it was grey clouds today, how interesting. The car continued to roll along the road, its windows long gone I could feel the wind pressing against me. Shoving me deeper into my seat the faster I went. I had done this drive so many times I could do it with my eyes closed, there wasn't anything to crash in to.

I drove through a few towns, long abandoned, long looted. Where I needed to go was still about an hour away. That meant that I would have about an hour on site, and then an hour to get back, hide and wait out the day. All to do it again tomorrow.

I stopped at one of the working gas stations, I was the only one using them, so they still had fuel, but they were running dangerously low. I filled up the tank, and went into the shop. I had already grabbed all of the tinned food from here, but I wasn't here for that. I went into the back where the shopkeeper would have lived.

He kept a gun closet here, and I had never built up the courage to take one larger than I already owned. But now, on my 21st birthday, I would take a bigger one. There were several rifles, and I rummaged through the cabinet to find the one that had the most ammo left. It was the Browning A bolt, a bolt action rifle that came with about 200 rounds of ammo.

I took it and went back to my car. I always favoured my pistol, but it was good to have something that I could do some ranged stuff with, you could never be too careful out here.

I continued along the road for another 20 minutes or so, all was calm. This drive was usually boring, so I ran thoughts through my head, and made a list of the parts I was looking for today on a small piece of paper. I shoved it in my pocket and kept driving.

My V8 continued to rumble across the countryside, I hadn't heard the sound of a different type of engine in a long while, so I was curious to see what was making the sound of the V6 coming from the distance.

Then it hit me, oh shit. It was another car. I immediately pulled over and drove into another station. I left the car parked and took the new gun out. I went into the station and poked the gun out the window and looked along the sights at the road ahead.

The rusty car didn't look out of place at all, if all went to plan then I wouldn't have to do anything, and they would just keep driving past. I waited a few minutes before I saw another car roll over the hill and start coming towards me. It was a rusty blue Ford capri.

It was a lone driver, and they wore no mask or helmet. I couldn't see them clearly from here, and I hoped I never would have to.

Up until the last moment, it seemed as if the car would continue past, but they instead slowed and pulled into the station. A large man walked out of the car, he had a silvery beard, and short silver hair. He had an aura of strength to him, and I cowered behind the window.

They stopped right by my car and looked at it. They placed one hand on the bonnet, and pulled it away quickly, still hot.

Now they knew someone was here, they pulled out a gun from their pocket and raised it to firing position. His muscles rippled as he turned from side to side trying to pick someone out in the surrounding area.

I had taken my gun down when they came in, but now I raised it again, I poked it up against one of the gaps in the boarded-up window and placed my finger on the trigger. They still hadn't seen me, and I still had hope that they would leave. he continued turning and began to move back to their car, but once he pointed the gun at my car with the intention of shooting the engine I gasped.

He heard the noise and pointed his gun directly at the window I was in. He didn't shoot however, and was clearly not sure if I was there. I took that opportunity, took a deep breath and pressed my finger slowly on the trigger. They said it was better that way, meant that you didn't expect it to come. But I did.

He collapsed to the floor, I had hit him square in the chest. He was leaning up against his car, and made a reach for his gun. I walked out of the shop and pointed my gun at him. I kicked the gun away, and he looked at me dead in the eyes.

"Fuck you."

He said, before letting out a bloody cough and clutching his chest.

"Fuck you man, I was just trying to pass through. Then your tiny ass has to shoot me, Jesus man."

I raised the gun to his head, he pushed himself backwards, once again making him in great pain.

"Alright, ok. Look I'll give you anything you want, just please, don't leave me here like this."

I lowered the gun, I was curious.

"What can you give me I don't already have."

He reached for his pocket, his hands presented, he wasn't going for a gun. He pulled out a small white tube.

"Whats that?"

"A map kid, to a base. Do you have any idea how much these things are worth?"

"Never heard of one."

I leant forward and picked it up, he seemed reluctant to let go, but he did eventually.

I pressed a button on the side and a small holographic map appeared.

"believe me?"

"Yeah ok. What do you want me to do then? I cant just leave you here?"

"yeah that was the entire point of me giving you that dumbass. I don't have long left, just, lay me somewhere beautiful. It's kinda your fault anyway."

"Ok, ill do it, lets get in the car."

I awkwardly carried him into my car, and put him in the passenger seat. He was already pale, he really didn't have long left. I pulled out along the road, I drove quickly, I really did want to leave him somewhere special.

"Whats your name kid?"

"Eden Fowler. You?"

"Kurt, Kurt Andris"

"Nice to meet you Kurt"

"Well I didn't exactly get much of a fucking choice did i." He mumbled.

"Do you live out here too?"

"yeah, an old shack about 2 miles away from here." He said, he turned to me with a confused look on his face. "You seem to young to be out here kid, don't you have any family?"

"Nah."

"Sorry about that, it's a tough world."

"Wont be for much longer, im getting out of here."

"And how the hell do you plan to do that Eden."

"I have a ship, just a couple more parts and I should be good."

"Well I wish you the best of luck out there. But you know it just gets harder, on the colonies I mean. There aint no life out there, just as there isn't here."

"I plan on finding it." I replied, keeping my eyes on the road

We soon pulled up to where we needed to go. It was a large meadow. I parked the car in the forest so it couldn't be seen from the road. I pulled him out of the car, and we awkwardly managed to hobble over to the edge of the meadow.

"Here." He said, "Here is a place I could die."

It truly was beautiful it was deep into the night, and the stars were shining brightly, you could see the whole milky way from here.

I laid him down on a bed of moss, so that when he looked up, half of it was trees, and the other half stars.

"Thanks kid."

"I'm so sorry man, if I had just not shot you, none of this would have happened, and we could have gone our separate ways." I said, beginning to cry.

"Don't say that. It wasn't your fault. You and I, we're the same you see, both just a victim of this. This horrible world, the death camps, the patrols, murder after murder. Get out of here, go to the stars, and hey. Take this for me, I always said I'd show them the stars."

He passed me a bloodied picture of him and two young girls, daughters I guessed.

He clutched my hand, and looked at me, his eyes going milky.

"May the force be with you."

What the fuck was that supposed to mean.

I tried to ask, but before I could get the words out, he was gone.

I got up and stepped away, I put my hand over my mouth, but the tears started to turn to determination. I would show them the stars, I would do it for him.

I turned to the meadow, I didn't have long.

This place was littered with ships, large and small. I walked up onto a small hill and looked around, there was countless hundreds of them here. I pulled the list out of my pocket, there was only one thing on there today, as it would be difficult to find. It was one of the last pieces I needed to fix the ship, a core.

It was what gave the ship its energy, it worked like a small uranium reactor, and was incredibly dangerous. That's why I wore the mask. It would still kill me eventually, but it would take a few years, and hopefully by then I would be out of here and somewhere I could get treatment for it.

I picked one that looked to be in the best shape and walked towards it. I waded through the tall grass towards the ship, I would need about half an hour to find the core and get out, so I only got 2 chances at it before I would have to leave and come back tomorrow.

I walked up to it and wiped off the moss to see the name, "Soldat." It was grade 2, the same as mine. That made it easier to find the core, I would know the way.

Even if it was a freighter, it was still huge, these things were about 100 metres long and were intricately built. It was designed so a human would be able to reach the centre without having to destroy anything, but it was still very difficult to reach.

I clambered up the side and lifted open a panel on the far end, it was easier to reach than its side, and from here it should be a straight run along.

I crawled and walked through the narrow tunnels that led towards its core, it was lying on its side, and these tunnels were designed for when it was standing up, so it was very difficult to work my way through them at these angles.

But it only took me 10 minutes of clambering to reach the core, which I was pleased about. I reached the core room, and flipped the switch to open the door, it slid open, creaking and stopping, but leaving enough room for me to get through. I walked up to the pedestal and pressed the button, it creaked and presented me with the core. Except that it wasn't there, it had been taken already. I kicked the pedestal and left the way I came.

I walked out and back up to the hill. I picked another one and walked towards it. "kampfer". I went in the same way and crawled up again. Once again. No core. I was getting annoyed now.

I checked the clock in my car, if i was quick, i had enough time to check another one before i had to leave. If i did it in the same time that i had done the others, then i would still have enough time to get back, but i would have to drive quickly, and i was really cutting it tight.

I decided to go ahead anyway, and picked out another one and walked up to it. "Zauberer". I climbed up the side of the chest to save time, and found myself just a few minutes away from the core. I wriggled down a narrow tube and found myself once again at the core.

I flipped the switch and walked in, pressed the button, and a core came out. An actual working core. I jumped up and down, this was the rarest thing in the entire ship, all i needed now was a pilots helmet, and i could get out of here.

I picked up the core, and put it inside my bag. I had to go out the back entrance, it wouldnt fit if i came back the way i had came in. I slid out and landed in the meadow. I ran back to my car as fast as i could, carrying the core on my back. I had it tightly on, so it didnt bounce around and break.

I was almost at the car when my foot went straight down a rabbit hole. I felt the bone break and i fell flat on my chest. I almost called out in pain, but it was getting so close to morning i didnt want to make any noise. I pulled my foot out and examined the wound.

My ankle was shattered and there was bone sticking out of the side. I couldnt walk on it or drive. What the hell could i do. I took the risk of driving with one foot and dragged myself over to the car, every movement sending bursts of blood and pain shooting down my leg.

My chest was also hurting, i suspected a broken rib. I sat down in the car, my eyes full of tears from the pain. I stuffed a gag into my mouth to stop me from screaming and biting off my tongue and moved my hands towards my ankle.

I had to get the bone back inside me so i could re align them and bind it tightly. But i was in so much pain i could barely think. I remembered the medical training i had recieved in case of an injury at my old job, but i couldnt remember anything but that as a solution. I took a few deep breaths, and reached down and began moving the bone.

It hurt more than anything i had ever experienced, and i was making muffled screams that sounded like a dying animal. I pushed it in further, rubbing it past muscle and bone, and it slotted back into place with one final burst of pain. It was still hurting me and i quickly wrapped it in a bandage to stop the bleeding.

I checked my chest, but it was showing no more than a serious bruise, no broken rib. I leant back in my chair and prepared myself for the drive.

I now had even more reason to drive quickly, i felt like i would black out from the pain, and i had painkillers back home. I crawled back up to the road and slammed my foot on the pedal and sped off down the road, roaring like a lion on steroids.

Every bump, every gear change sent pain down my leg, and i had to keep moving my working leg so much i was getting cramp. But i kept going, and i saw the speedometer climb higher and higher as i raced to get back home. I slowed slightly as i went past the man i had shot, but then shot off again along the road.

I began seeing the first rays of sunlight on the horizon, and i still had 10 minutes left at least, and i pushed the car harder. I sped past the gas station where i had filled up, i was almost there.

The patrols would be going across the skies above me in 15 minutes at the very most, and if they found me it meant certain death. I roared the engine as i reached home, and as i pulled into the forest and went over the bumpy path, i struggled not to scream out in pain. They couldnt detect an engine, but any sign of human noise, they would be on me within minutes.

I hopped over to where i kept my stuff and grabbed a needle, some water and some bandages. I then climbed up the ladder with one leg, still in intense pain and climbed in the chest. I clambered along the passages until i reached somewhere i would be safe and lay down.

I shoved the needle into my forearm and injected the painkillers. Their effect was immediate. I went about making a splint out of the metal i had down here, and the bandages i brought with me. But first i had to wash the wound. It had stopped bleeding but it was caked in blood and dirt and would get infected. I put a few drops of iodine in the water to purify it, and sloshed some over my ankle. It sent firey bursts of pain up my leg even worse than before. And i shoved my hand in my mouth to stop me from screaming.

I continued to put more water on, hurting less each time. I dabbed some of the bandages on to get rid of the water and wrapped fresh bandages on it, i would put the splint on tomorrow. I crawled up into a ball leaving my injured leg out, and let the painkillers do their work. They did have side effects of sleepiness, and within minutes i was asleep.

I dreamt of strange things that night.

I woke up in a sweat and jumped to my feet and raised my fists. It took me a few moments of heavy breathing to remember where i was, and i sat back down. I poked my ankle, nothing, the painkillers were still working.

I pulled myself to my feet and clambered back along the passages, reaching the exit after a while and climbing down the ladder. I did an inventory of what i still had, and checked over my car, i had pushed it pretty hard yesterday. It was working fine, and i didnt need to go anywhere anyways, I would rest until my wound had healed, and god knows how long that would take.

I went through my medicine box and found some more bandages, it was healing well so far, but I would need to use some of the Etheron to fix it entirely. That would hurry the healing, but it would still be a couple of days until I could walk on it properly again. I found the bag that I had put the core in and put it on the ground, sitting down next to it.

I opened it up and pulled out the core, placing it on top of the bag. It was a small sphere, no larger than my head, with numerous holes in it. Each hold had to be hooked up to a specific wire inside the ship, and if one wire was in the wrong place, it wouldn't work.

I decided to use today as a kind of rest day, I injected the Etheron and laid down on the moss to give it a few minutes to start. From there I could leave it, and it should be good enough to walk on tomorrow, but wouldn't be fully healed until the day after that.

The Etheron would do strange things to my mind over the next day, so I got back inside the ship and laid down. I had never taken it before, but I remembered someone talking about hallucinations and strange dreams.

I quickly fell into a deep slumber, and my dreams that night felt as vivid as the blood coursing through my veins

I was driving along a road that was empty, no trees on the sides, just desert. I look over to my left and see the man i killed sitting next to me. He sat up and the wound in his head healed, he spoke and said.

"The moss climbing within, the moss of your mind collapsing and dying, the moss climbing within."

I jumped out of the car and found myself in a meadow, it was completely empty for miles, and i ran. I kept running through the grass until i could run no more. Then i saw it. Cracking across the sky, a streak of lightning hitting a tree in the distance. The tree caught fire and i ran in the opposite direction.

This time i found myself in a forest, surrounded by corpses. I recognised all of them, but then i didn't. Their faces were familiar, but i couldn't name any of them. I found myself upon a mountain of corpses, looking up at the sky, at the lightning streaking across it. The hands begin to grab me, and they drag me down, all as one saying.

"Murderer, murderer, murderer…"

Then it all went black.

I woke up, I had somehow worked my way outside and found myself lying on a thick bed of moss on the edge of the forest. The road was to the north of here, and a meadow to the south. I rarely came down here, but it was beautiful.

The stars were brightly lit, as if someone had put holes in the eternal blackness and was shining a bright light through them. I dug my fingers into the moss, feeling them begin to slowly wind around them as I lay there.

I looked up at the moon above me, its craters and imperfections glowing brightly in the night sky. The perfect white shining deep into my eyes, forming a perfect contrast with the dark, brown and green life I led. I wished I could go there sometimes, to the moon. Far away from everything else, far away from this world.

I would sit on the surface and lie there, much like I was doing now. I would lie there and look at the earth, I wouldn't move, I would simply be at peace with the world. No problems, to troubles. That was where I wanted to die, there is nothing more I would hate than dying here.

I felt a burst of extreme melancholy rip through my mind, and I began to sob. I thought of my life before, I sure as hell didn't have it all, but it was better than this by a long shot. The moss continued to grow faster, I didn't know how long I lay there, but when I came to my senses, it had covered my arms entirely.

I ripped my arms out and stood up, I didn't know how long I had been like this, but I guessed it had been a few days, because my ankle was healed entirely. I still had a little limp, but I guessed that it would go soon.

I walked over to the ship. A sleeping giant now almost truly enveloped in moss. A blanket of green protecting its slumber. Even if I did manage to hook up the core, even if I did manage to find a pilot's helmet, there was still no saying for sure if it would start. The moss and other vines may have done their damage over the years. But I still kept up hope, it was my only way out of here.

I picked up the core and began to climb through the ship carefully, if I broke it, it would break, and kill me. Once I reached the core, I pressed the button and placed it on top of the pedestal. The room instantly lit up, presenting me with a series of holograms depicting the ship in its hay day. It was exactly what I had hoped for.

It directed me step by step on how to plug each wire in individually, and I followed it for hours. Once each wire was plugged in, it emitted a small beeping noise, and showed me on the diagram of the ship what that wire had just allowed me to do. Like blaster cannons, or shield power, sometimes something less powerful like bridge lights. But nonetheless, with every wire I plugged in I felt closer and closer to freedom.

A couple of hours later, I finally slotted the last wire into place. It spoke to me in an automated voice, saying.

"Please speak the activation password."

Oh shit, I didn't realise that there would be one. I rattled off a few that might work, like "Krieger" and "mech." None of them worked though, and I found myself lost. How was I supposed to know the password, I kicked the side of the room, I couldn't get it started now. Then I had an idea.

"Show information on previous pilot."

The password would have been set by the pilot, so I guessed that I could find it out from looking at some information from them.

The hologram now showed a profile picture of a person, shot like a mugshot. Captain James P Morgan, he was dead. Born in 1984, died a couple of years ago during the war. He was an old captain then, pushing 40, most were in there 20s and early 30s, I guess that showed his skill.

I swiped through the entire profile, showing his date of birth, addresses, important dates in his life, important people, but none of them worked. I refused to give up, and I delved deeper and deeper, trying everything that might even resemble a password, dog names, girlfriends, football team. It was kind of creepy that they kept a folder this detailed about every single soldier.

It was about half an hour before I got it right, Creedence Clearwater Revival, his favourite band. I laughed lightly, but decided to keep the password at that, if it took me this long, it would take someone else a while as well.

The hologram seemed to unlock, and a door opened on the opposite side that led me to the bridge of the mech. In the head, right in front of the eye, I had never been in here before. It was always locked, and impossible to get into from the outside.

I followed the passage until I reached the bridge, a small room with a single pilot's chair in the middle. The room was no more than 3 metres across, and about 2 metres high, it was circular, with a place to stand in the middle. I stepped onto the platform, big enough to take a big step across, and it loaded up.

This room was on a gyroscope, so even if the ship was on its side, it still felt like it was the right way up. Holograms began appearing all around the room, doing a complete system check, it took about 30 seconds before it announced that everything was alright.

I walked towards the captains chair, and sat down. The ship was smaller than the other ones, and had a small crew. There was only a couple more chairs, in here, I reckon I could pilot it by myself.

I sat down in the bridge and began to rack my brains for what I could do, but I came up empty, all the pilot's helmets would have been taken by now, they were worth good money on the black market. The only way I could think of getting one was to go to Tranuin, a nearby town that had one of those kinds of things. I had never been there myself, but if I was going to find a helmet, it would be there.

I left the mech, and walked over to my car, I grabbed my guns and put them in the passenger seat. I would need something to trade for the helmet, I didn't have any currency, so I would need something of equal value. I could only think of one thing I had that even came close. The thing that Kurt gave me.

I placed the key around my neck on a string and drove off, this time going in the opposite direction. It was about a day's ride to Tranuin, so I had brought some food with me and I settled in for a long drive. I got all my food from raiding stores, there were hundreds around the area preparing for the apocalypse that came.

It was a quiet day, and I stopped at the few stations to refuel, finding little to nothing in all of them, but enough to keep the engine tiding over before I reached Tranuin.

Huge walls surrounding a city, it was one of the only surviving, non-military-controlled strongholds left. The grey walls were lined with watchtowers, and as the light began to appear in the sky, they called out to me.

"State your business!" they yelled down to me.

"Coming in to trade, ill be gone when the sun sets!" I yelled back up, opening my door and standing outside my car.

"Come through, prepare yourself for checks!"

I drove my car forward and the gate lowered, allowing my car to roll on inside, where I was directed to the right and told to get out of my car. I stepped outside and a large man approached me casually and spoke.

"please remove your helmet and surrender any weapons you have."

I removed my googles, revealing my dark green eyes, and pulled off the helmet, letting my long brown hair fall down to my shoulders. I handed over my pistol and rifle, and he looked at them in turn.

"Anything else, any contraband you wish to tell me about?"

"No sir"

"Very well, any form of ID?"

"I think I have this." I pulled out my employees' badge as a mechanic, it wasn't very good, but all they wanted was a photo.

"That'll do it, and where do you hail from, Mr…"

"Fowler, Eden Fowler. I don't come from anywhere; I live by myself about a day's ride west of here."

"That's a dangerous life Mr Fowler, are you sure you do not wish to stay longer?"

"I'm fine thank you."

"Of course, well, you can pick up your weapons when you get back here, have a nice day."

"Thank you very much, do you know anywhere safe I can park my car?"

"Leave it here with us, we'll count it as confiscated objects, it'll get stolen otherwise."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

And with that I turned and left, I had the key in my pocket, but apart from that I was completely un armed and vulnerable.

I made my way to a place I had heard of; it was quite near and I was there quickly. Gladly so, I didn't want to stay here any longer than I had to, this place gave me the creeps. Even with the sun getting higher in the sky, the buildings were close together and were eternally drenched in a claustrophobic darkness.

I found the place and walked in, it was quite a small shop, but it would have what I needed hopefully.

A man stood behind the counter dressed in an oily apron, he was polishing a spanner, and turned to me as I walked in and spoke.

"What can I get you sir? We have all the tools you could possibly need, and countless thousands of nails and bolts."

"thank you, but I was hoping for something a little bit rarer. I come looking to trade for a pilot's helmet."

The man scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Scram kid, there's no way you have anything to trade for that."

I began to protest, but he turned around and continued polishing.

"What about this."

He turned back around with a bored expression on his face, but when he saw the key his eyes lit up.

"Please follow me."

He directed me into a back room, which in turn led down a set of large stairs. It opened into a far larger room than the first, that was bustling with people crowded around certain things, I recognised a few. Some were different types of holograms, and I even saw a core, but no pilots helmet.

The man led me down to the other end of the room where he walked up to a table and indicated for me to place the key on it. I did so and it became surrounded by holograms, the man immediately began scouring the maps and the key, before asking me, without looking up.

"How on earth did you manage to find this. These are rare you know."

"I found it a couple of years back in an abandoned car."

I don't know why I didn't tell the truth, just didn't want to get into it I guess.

"Lucky find."

"Well? Is it worth a pilot's helmet?"

"It comes close, but unfortunately falls just short, you would need to rack up a couple hundred more tokens, do you have anything of that value?"

"I have a gun, will that do?"

"What make." He said, still not looking up from the holograms.

"A Browning A bolt, including ammo."

"That should just about do it. Follow me please, and take your key."

He led me down another passage and then opened a cupboard, where there lay three pilots' helmets, I was amazed, they just had three of these lying around, and I had been looking for one for years.

"What grade were you looking for."

"Grade 2."

"Very well then." he pulled one of the helmets off the wall and took it back to the table where he had first had the key.

I handed over the key, and he placed the helmet on the table.

"Where's the gun."

"The soldiers took it when I came in, but if you come with me, I can get it back."

"Oh, its fine, leave it with officer Collings, he'll pass it on to me."

And with that he handed over the helmet. I had done it, the last piece of the puzzle. All I had to do now was to go back and plug it in. Then I would be in control of a ship, and I could finally get out of here.

I shook his hand and we made the exchange. I went out the way I came, placing the helmet gently in my bag, I kept it close to my side in case it got stolen. I still didn't trust this town, it had that kind of uncanny feeling of sadness. The grey buildings loomed overhead, and the shadow of the wall covered the town in shadow.

I had to look for somewhere I could sleep, then I would leave when it was dark and safe. It didn't take long to find a hotel, and I handed over the few tokens that I happened to have and got a room.

I slept well, the bed was far more comfortable than my nook in the mech, even if it was a shitty mattress. I got a free meal with the room in the morning, and I ate well, I would have to wait until I got back to get more food. I had gotten greedy, and eaten all the food I brought with me for lunch yesterday.

I returned to my car, and I couldn't stop grinning, I asked for officer Collings and gave him the gun, he made no complaints, and just took it and walked away. I got my pistol back and my car, and drove out of the walls, and back down the road.

I was amazed at how simple the whole process had been, i had expected far more of a struggle. But here I was, with the helmet.

It was the same length of drive back, but it felt far shorter, and soon enough, I was pulling up to the ship.

I ran inside, I could use the main entrance now the core was in. I walked up the ramp into the bridge. The ship instantly recognised the helmet and began scanning it.

"Welcome Captain, all systems online, ready for departure."

It was working.

The ship would take off.

I ran outside and grabbed all my things, making sure to close the panel well so it wouldn't fall off. I unpacked the car, grabbing the gun.

I placed the photo Kurt had given me in my breast pocket, and dumped all the stuff in a pile in the corner of the room. I was ready.

I walked down the ramp, and once again out into the moss. I would have to take off when it was dark again, so I decided that I would do something I hadn't done in a very long time. I would spend the day in the sun.

I took my boots off, laid my jacket on the ramp and sat down in the moss. The sun warmed my skin, and I laid there. Happy in the fact that I was getting out of here. But then again, I felt a great sense of sorrow that I would be leaving.

That was a weird thought, the place that I had spent so long trying to leave, was making me want to stay. I dug my fingers into the moss, and I looked up at the trees above me, the sun was gradually getting higher and higher in the sky, it was beautiful.

But then I thought of Kurt, lying dead on the edge of that meadow, because of me.

I thought of all of those people trapped in Tranuin, forever living a lie.

I had been trapped here by this world, not by the people living on it, but this infernal world. Cruel in nature, and destructive. I would leave.

I pulled myself from the moss, I refused to stay another minute here.

I walked up the ramp, and pressed a button that closed the door behind me.

"Welcome captain, all systems online, ready for departure." It repeated.

"Take off process start."

I put the helmet on my head and sat in the chair. It slid over the whole of my head, and left me with a visor that I could see out of.

I started to manipulate the holograms the helmet showed me through the visor. Most of it was guesswork, but I was sure I had gotten most of it right.

"Some problems detected, correcting."

"Thanks" I had just talked to a computer, I really did need to get out of here.

"Take off in 5… 4… 3…2…1."

The ship raised itself up, and I grabbed the joystick, and positioned it upwards towards the sky.

I pushed itself free of the trees and shot into the blue sky. My presence would have been alerted, so I pushed the ship as fast as it would go. But before I knew it, there was a patrol vehicle on my tail.

"Stop your ship and land, on order of the Emperor."

I was about to try and fly away from it, but the ships cannons had already aimed, and were waiting for my approval. What the hell, I fired, and the ship went up in flames.

Within seconds, there were 10 of them following me, shooting to bring the ship down.

"Suggested jump to hyperspace"

The ship was being hit constantly, and the shields were beginning to break.

They inevitably did, and a few good hits got in. But before the ship went down, I slammed the button, and the ship shot off into space. Hyperspeed.

I saw the lines of the stars extend, as I was pushed back into my seat, I watched in awe that the ship was doing this well.

The ship began to falter, and warning lights flashed everywhere. I pulled it out of hyperspace, and it shuddered to a stop.

I got up and began checking for problems, I probably wouldn't be able to get it working for a while.

Then an entire empire fleet burst into view, how the hell did they find me. But they hadn't.

They surely wouldn't send a star destroyer after me. And they didn't, it cruised on past, and I assumed I was safe. But before it disappeared from view entirely, two tie fighters began screaming towards my ship.

I desperately tried to get it working, but the ship refused to move.

"There is no escape, come with us please." The pilots said in a bored voice.

"Please, please just let me go." I begged, "I wont bother you again."

"No can do, follow us please."

The star destroyer had stopped, and I could see it in clear view. Just empty space between me and it.

I ran around the cabin, trying to use every single thing I remembered about these ships. But it was the computer who saved me.

"Problems solved, ready for departure"

I sat back down in the chair and considered my options.

"Sir we give you 10 seconds before we fire upon your ship."

I had decided, I would do it. My final act of defiance.

I pulled out the photo that Kurt had given me.

"I showed you the stars."

I put it back in my pocket, and put a determined voice on.

"Tell the Emperor I said Fuck you."

I shoved the thrusters forward as hard as I could, and the ship lurched forward. I aimed it carefully. Straight at the bridge, where the captain would be.

The tie fighters started to fire on me, but the shields held, the computer had somehow managed to fix them.

The ship was barrelling towards the bridge, and I started to yell. The star destroyer didn't see a threat, and didn't respond. It didn't have to.

"Ship. Make the jump to light speed."

"We are currently on a collision course, are you sure?"

"yes, confirm code. Creedence Clearwater Revival."

"Accepted, making jump."

The ship lurched forward again, and I shot towards the bridge.

"I hope you rest well Kurt, see you in a bit."

Darkness, I was simply a star now.


End file.
